Exam (1)
‘Looks like a funeral.’

It was a chilly morning, and it seemed a lot colder with the air of gloom all around them. Lia expected the exam day to resemble a festival with banners, loud music, and throngs of cheering supporters at the gate. But what welcomed her in the palace yard were people wearing subdued colors and grim expressions, looking a lot like mourning and less than taking an exam.

‘Nerves, perhaps?’ Lia narrowed her eyes as she assessed this kind of environment, her hand flew to her chest and wrapped around the jade pendant resting there. She was willing to accept that thought, but something told her that that was not it. At least, not ‘just’ that. Because if it was, it did not make sense to get the impression from the proctors too as though they were nervous about something else.

The silence was eerie, and it made Lia shiver. Saved for the hushed voices, the other examinees did not talk with each other or even greet one another. Instead, everyone eyed the next person before them as if someone might stick a knife in their backs. In a way, she understood their feelings. There were about a hundred examinees. But according to rumors, only half would be accepted. Some years it was even lower. That level of competition felt so toxic that Lia wanted nothing but run far away from all of these.

The line in the registration moved with people looking like they were signing up for their deaths which Lia would have found funny if it did not really feel like one. Once it was her turn to register, she certainly did not imagine the twitch on the eyebrow of the senior physician.

Before Lia came in, she was deciding whether she would have to put a brave front or go with the sweet innocent look. She maintained her boyish look but used her real name, thinking it would be safe to reveal a bit of her in the palace. And that lying would get her to future complications. Yet seeing that apparent distaste, she chose the former and put on a poker face.

“Name.”

She pressed her lips together before speaking in a stern voice, “Liana.”

The person at the registration tapped his pen impatiently. “Which family did you come from?”

He was not even hiding his sneer. Unperturbed, Lia stared at him as she pushed forward Jeremiah’s recommendation letter and waited for that inevitable disbelief. Possible that she would be accused of forgery. Was Jeremiah around to bail her out? Or would her plans be put to a grinding halt before she even began the first step?

To her relief, none of those happened. He glanced at her, then back to the letter, as though deciding how she managed to coerce a distinguished physician into writing her a letter. She was given a sharp look, and at the same time, she was handed the exam badge.

“Line up over there and wait for further instructions.” He jerked his chin towards the line of the examinees.

Lia stared levelly without a hint of emotion on her face and walked away. She was good at that — pretending that she did not have feelings. It made her life easier if she could control her emotions instead of the one being controlled.